Jambalaya Ghetto Style

I have a pretty decent shared kitchen in my apartment complex complete with gas stoves and walk in refrigerators. Though things are a bit well used due to the number of people using the kitchen I was able to whip up a decent meal tonite for Mel and I. With just a little bit of creativeness and resourcefulness we made some delicious jambalaya. 

Ghetto Jambalaya

- 4 stalks of celery chopped

- one chopped onion

- 3 cloves of garlic or more minced

- half a bell pepper chopped

- 3 chorizo sausages

- one can of diced tomatos

- italian seasoning

- chili powder

- 1 cup of uncooked rice

- 2 cups of chicken broth

1. Chop up all your vegetables and place to the side.  In the meantime fry up your sausages until they are cooked and then take out of the pan to cool and slice into pieces.  With the oil leftover from the sausages, add some more olive oil and fry up your onions and garlic.  Throw in the celery and bell pepper once your onions have cooked down a bit and become translucent.  Season with Italian seasoning and some of the chili powder to taste.  Throw back the sliced sausages into the pan and mix with the vegetables. 
2. Wash out your one cup of rice until clean and push aside contents in frying pan so that rice can be sauteed.  Cooking the rice this way will add a nice flavor to it once it is done.  After it has been well mixed in the oils, incorporate it with the other contents.  
3. Open your can of tomatoes and pour it along with the juices into the pan and add your two cups of chicken broth as well.  Stir so that the rice is covered in the liquid.  Taste and add more seasoning if needed. 
4. Cover and bring to a boil after which heat should then be turned to a simmer and jambalaya allowed to cook for about 20 minutes.  Check and stir about halfway through to make sure that rice is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.  If more liquid is needed, add more broth or water. 

 Chopped up vegetables

 

Wonderful gas stoves and our chorizo getting nice and brown

Everything cooking up nicely

Ghettofab Jambalaya!

Real jambalaya would require Cajun seasoning which I didn't have so I improvised with Italian seasoning and chili powder for a bit of the heat which I normally would have gotten from the Cajun spices. I also would have liked to use a much spicier sausage and added some fresh peeled shrimp.  All in all though, it was still a great dish and I definitely had fun being creative!